


Gathering Again Today, Down By Law

by MassacreHarp



Category: THE iDOLM@STER, ヒプノシスマイク | Hypnosis Mic (Albums)
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Gen, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 21:14:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29922912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MassacreHarp/pseuds/MassacreHarp
Summary: Dice decides to treat himself after a lucky streak, and ends up reuniting with his long-lost, self-proclaimed little sister.
Kudos: 1





	Gathering Again Today, Down By Law

**Author's Note:**

> some notes on dialogue:  
> \- i apologize in advance for natsuha's nagoya-ben being Like That, the only reference i had for it was the hypmic wiki's translation of kuko's dialogue  
> \- gentaro's dialogue is based off the funimation subs of rhyme anima, as is rinze's  
> \- dice's dialogue is just kinda... there? imagine him talking in some loose combination of nagoya-ben and shitamachi
> 
> also i did not have a beta reader for this, because i am simultaneously a coward and not a coward; schrodinger's coward, if you will

"Alright, get the fuck out of here, and don't come back!"

Today has been a good day for Dice Arisugawa. The stars have finally aligned, and he has been able to rake in a stream of constant wins throughout his gambling sessions. Constant enough, in fact, that he's gotten himself thrown out because the staff thought he was cheating. He doesn't mind, though; he _was_ playing fairly, and in any case, a twist of fate allowed him to keep his winnings for the day. There's about enough that he can treat himself to something fancy, but there's _also_ enough that he finds it hard to resist the temptation to go try his unnatural luck at one of the real high-roller establishments...

His hand is in his pocket before he even knows it. Of course. A decision like this is a perfect job for Dice's, well, dice. In one smooth move, he extricates them from his pocket and tosses them out onto the pavement. His rules are simple: If the total's odd, he'll go treat himself. If it's even, he'll keep pushing the envelope.

One.

Three.

Five.

"Well, I'll be damned." The dice have decided he should go treat himself. Well, who is he to refuse? He knows exactly what to treat himself _to_ , too: He's had Akihabara on his to-visit list for the past little while, and now that he has the yen for the train fare, he's finally going to go there. Who knows? He might even run into a gambling establishment worth his time. Dice brings up his mental map of Shibuya, honed to near-mechanical perfection by the sheer amount of wandering he's done throughout his time here, and starts making his way towards Shinjuku Station.

* * *

Five boys are in a park in Nagoya. One of them, a middle-schooler by the looks of him, is curled up on the floor in a fetal position. The other four, high-school delinquents all, stand over him, jeering and laughing. The leader of the delinquents, laughing loudest of all, holds up a fistful of yen—the middle-schooler's allowance.

"Look at this loser! Didn't even put up a fight, just handed the cash right over!" The boys laugh louder, and the leader kneels down to look his latest victim in the eyes. "You're lucky we're feelin' nice, loser. We're gonna let you off the hook now, but next time you'd better try to fight."

Though his eyes are teary and he has to fight to keep his voice steady, Dice still finds the will to reply. "You're not gonna get away with this, my little sis is gonna show you what for."

"Your little sis!" The head delinquent guffaws. "Listen to this guy! He thinks his _baby sis_ is going to kick our asses!"

"He's right, though." A new voice has joined the fray. It belongs to a girl, the same age as Dice. Her long hair is tied back in a ponytail, and she's standing like one of the heroes from the latest season of Justice V, with arms crossed and legs slightly spaced apart. Despite the utter lack of family resemblance, it's very clear that's the little sister Dice was talking about. All in all, she looks like a dork, but—despite the bullies' continued laughter—that doesn't make the sight of her any less relieving to him.

" _This_ is your baby sis?! This just keeps gettin' better and better! Hey, boys, let's-" Whatever he's about to say is swiftly interrupted by the girl's knee making contact with his stomach. She's _much_ stronger than she looks, and she's clearly got the skill to exploit that strength. The other bullies take one look at their leader as he crumples to the floor and, deciding this isn't worth it, run for the hills. The head delinquent starts to crawl away, and the girl sends him off with a swift kick to the rear, then turns to Dice.

"You alright, aniki?" Out of the corner of her eye, she spots Dice's allowance—and a little extra, dropped by the delinquent after she kicked him—and picks it up off the ground. "They didn't rough ya up or anything, did they?"

"N-Nah, not really. Thanks… again."

"Glad to hear it! Sorry I was late, by the way, parents wanted me for somethin' and it just went on and on and _on..._ " The girl laughs, handing Dice the money. "Hey, aniki, why don'tcha come over today? The new Justice V special's airin', and I wanna watch it with ya."

"It's today?!" The girl's remark fills him with fire, and he practically jumps to his feet despite the aches all over his body. "Then what're we waitin' for?! Let's go!"

* * *

Six years and one uneventful train ride after that incident, Dice arrives at Akihabara station. It is, as always, crowded—not that it means anything considering he got on the train at the world's busiest railway station—and he has to do quite a bit of wading through crowds to get anywhere. Not that he minds that either; he's got all day. Even so, it's a relief when the crowds finally thin out and he's able to move faster than a snail's pace near the station's exit. He takes the winnings out of his pocket to check his budget-

"Watch out, mister!"

Dice wonders where the voice came from, but his train of thought is immediately derailed when a red blur crashes into him and he's knocked flat on his ass. His dice clatter out of his pocket, and his money has been scattered into the air, falling gently around him like snow. What's worse, there's some girls collecting it! He opens his mouth to protest, but one of the money collectors approaches him. Her eyes are red, and she's wearing traditional dress that, with its out-of-placeness amidst the modernity of the station and the fashions of those around her, reminds him of Gentaro.

"...Excuse me. It appears that thou hast dropped this."

Oh, great, she even _talks_ like Gentaro. It's all he can do not to start laughing out loud. Still, she's right. "Yeah, that's… That's my cash." He gets to his feet, taking the portion the red-eyed girl is offering him and moving to collect the rest. With six pairs of hands working together, it's not long before Dice has everything back. Once everything's sorted out, one of the girls, the youngster with the spiky red hair, bows her head.

"I'm really sorry, mister! It was my fault, I wasn't looking where I was going!"

"Nah, 's fine. You've just got a lotta energy. I was like that too when I was your age. 'Sides, you helped me get everything back, so we're even. Just-" Dice's eyes land on one of the members of the group, the tall woman in the red jacket, and he freezes. he can't put his finger on it, but something about her is painfully familiar.

She notices him looking at her, and meets his gaze with a defiant stare, but that just makes her look even more familiar to him. The woman clearly feels the same way, because the second her eyes meet his she flinches and looks away. Thankfully the small group says their goodbyes and continues on their original path before things get too awkward, but Dice can't shake the thought of that woman as he leaves the station. Who is she, and where in the world has he seen her before?

* * *

Four years before that meeting at the station, Dice takes a cigarette out of his pocket. He brings it to his lips, but his little sister slaps it out of his hand before he can light it. "Cut that out, aniki. That stuff's bad for you, and you know that."

"C'mon, I've been good. That was gonna be my first smoke all week."

"Nope, still not lettin' ya have it." Her accent slips. He likes it when she does that; it's nice knowing that she feels comfortable enough around him to drop the 'polite society' facade she's started putting on recently and just be herself.

"Alright, fine, have it your way. Anyway, let's hear it—what's that thing you called me here for?"

"Well, um… Listen, promise you won't judge when ya hear this?"

Oh shit, this is serious. Her voice is low, and she actually hesitated before talking. The smile vanishes from Dice's face immediately, and he straightens up. "Yeah, you have my word."

"Okay. I, er..." She takes a deep breath, then continues. "...I've got a crush on a girl."

"...Oh?" Dice wants to laugh—she was acting like she'd gotten into some major trouble, not something this normal—but he knows it would be entirely inappropriate, so he doesn't. "'S it anyone I'd know?"

The girl blinks. She seems to have been expecting a non-judgemental response from Dice, but it's clear she wasn't expecting him to be _this_ accepting. "It's Tsukasa, the girl in the year below us. I think you've met her before, actually. Blonde hair, purple eyes? Sound familiar?"

"Oh, Blondie! So that's her name… Yeah, yeah, I don't know her name even though we're friends and in the same study group, sue me… No, but seriously though, she _is_ pretty darn cute, you've got good taste." Dice finishes talking, but then changes his mind and continues. "You didn't ask, but I know you're gonna—yeah, she's single, and yeah, I'll play wingman for ya whenever you decide to make your move."

For the second time tonight, the girl is clearly taken aback by his response. A smile plays across her lips, but it quickly turns into a full-on grin as she pulls him into a tight hug. "Thank you so much, Dice!"

* * *

"Gimme one ticket for that Shibuya live, please."

The small shop near Adores was the closest place Dice could find that was selling tickets, so that's where he is right now. After an hour of searching for leads on the girls from the station, he's managed to put together that they're an idol unit, and that they're holding a concert at a live house in Shibuya later that evening. The clerk gives him the ticket, and names a price he's not paying enough attention to consciously register. He takes the requisite amount of yen out of his pocket and passes it to them, taking the ticket and accompanying flyer for himself.

With the ticket secured, all he has to do now is kill time; the concert isn't for another four hours. He's already decided he's going to spend at least some time today probing around Akihabara to find the best gambling dens here, so he turns to leave the shop and go do just that—but he doesn't so much as take a step before someone taps him on the shoulder.

"Uh, Dead or Alive, right?" The tap on the shoulder had gotten some of his attention, but the use of his MC name is what prompts him to turn around and face the speaker. It's a bespectacled girl, just slightly shorter than him but nevertheless about his age.

"Yeah, 's me alright."

The girl's eyes light up before he's even done talking, and she quickly takes off her hat and offers it to him "U-Um, if it's not too much to ask, can you sign Mitsumine's cap?"

Well, he's certainly not used to being approached by a fan like this, but he doesn't mind. "What am I gonna do, say no?" With a shrug and a good-natured smile, he turns to the clerk for a split second to borrow their marker, then signs Mitsumine's cap and hands it to her. She takes the cap, but doesn't move from her position. Instead, she keeps talking.

"Mitsumine's going to be honest, she didn't expect you to be a fan of Afterschool Climax Girls."

Dice starts laughing before Mitsumine even finishes talking. "Wait, a fan of _what?_ "

"Afterschool Climax Girls. You know, the unit you just bought a ticket for? It's… An awkward name, I know, but Kaho-chan's only twelve and she's the one who picked the name."

A brief pause follows while he catches his breath, and then he replies. "Okay, okay, fine. The leader's twelve, that makes sense. Are ya a fan of those, uh… Pff..." It's no use. He starts laughing again.

"Kind of. It's, uh, kinda complicated, actually."

"I see, I see..." Dice takes a moment to calm down, then takes a deep breath before continuing to make sure he's not going to burst out laughing again. "Do you, uh, do you happen to know who this is?" He shows her the flyer, pointing at the woman who's been bugging him all day. To his relief, Mitsumine nods.

"Oh, that's Nacchan. Yeah, Mitsumine knows her pretty well. She's the oldest of the bunch. Her image color's green, and, um, what else… Oh, right, one of her parents is the CEO of a company… Arisugawa Heavy Industries, I think?"

If there was any leftover laughter from the unit's name in Dice's throat, the mention of the company's name kills it instantly. It can't be _her_ , can it? There's only one way to find out. "Nacchan, right… What's her name? Like, her full name." The answer is obvious to him from the moment the bespectacled girl opens her mouth to reply, but he lets her say it anyway.

"Her full name is Natsuha Arisugawa!"

Dice's heart starts beating a mile a minute. He needs to get back to Shibuya. **Now.** Trying his best to keep a straight face, he racks his brain for an excuse to leave the conversation. Thankfully, he doesn't have to; Mitsumine is called away by someone, likely a friend, and he's free to leave. The second he's out of the shop, he takes off at full tilt, heading toward Akihabara Station.

* * *

"...and yeah, that's about it for what I've got laid out for the future. What aboutcha, aniki?"

Nagoya again, four summers prior. The two of them are in Dice's room, sitting on the bed with controllers by their side. The game on the TV is paused, but even in this state it's clear Natsuha's been wiping the floor with him. Not that he minds, though; they've been pretty evenly matched for the past couple of hours, so it's not like he's been suffering defeat after humiliating defeat. In any case, that's irrelevant. She's asked him about the future, and he's going to answer.

"Well… I got no idea. I'm just gonna do what I've always done, roll with the punches. Hasn't failed me yet, ain't gonna fail me now."

"Honestly, aniki. I like your spirit, but that's no way to live life. You gotta have a plan B if it all goes wrong, right? At least—at the _very_ least—aim for the moon, so that even if you miss you'll still land among the stars."

"That..." Dice yawns. "...that's a bit much for me, I think. Like, I look at you and it's like… I 'unno. It feels like you've already got a ton of responsibilities on your shoulders before you've even left high school, an' I don't really care for that. I know I'm not accomplishing _everything_ I can, but at least I don't gotta answer to anyone, you know?"

"Fine, have it your way." Natsuha grins, picking her controller back up. "I'm sure with your luck you're gonna end up in a good place anyway. Now come on, let's finish this." She unpauses the game, waiting just long enough for Dice to grab his own controller before she gets back to kicking his ass.

* * *

Even with so much on his mind, Dice has to concede that the song is good. He can see why the live has drawn such a crowd, even if he wishes they'd be a little quieter so he can think. Gentaro is next to him, having been enlisted to help with his failed attempt to sneak backstage before the performance. The novelist is trying to look uninterested, but the speed with which he jots down details of the scene in his little notebook gives that impression the lie.

Dice's attention, on the other hand, is on something much more important. Or rather, some _one_. Natsuha's on the stage, very much having the time of her life as she sings and dances in perfect harmony with the rest of her unit. He wants to call out to her, but he doesn't want to throw her off when she's in the zone like this, so he just settles for watching her. He's not one to get sentimental, but he'll be damned if the sight of his self-proclaimed little sister on that stage doesn't fill him with pride.

Unfortunately, that's the final song of the live, and it ends far too soon for Dice's liking. Gentaro takes his eyes off his notebook and turns to Dice. "I must admit, this is quite the departure from thy usual fare in entertainment. Try as I might to fight it, curiosity doth get the better of me, and I must ask: Wherefore are we here?"

Dice stops to consider his options, then decides it's best to come clean. He points to Natsuha. "She an' I, we've got history. She's, well… We ain't blood siblings or anything, but we kinda just… Adopted each other, I guess you could say? She's like my baby sis, and the other way 'round. Haven't seen each other in years, though."

"Hmm… Forsooth, thou art far more intriguing than I had initially taken you for—and that is not a lie."

"I'm not sure whether that's a compliment or an insult, but I'm takin' it as a compliment. Thanks-" Dice's gaze snaps back to the stage. The idols have left, and the audience is starting to follow suit. That's not good. He turns around, and finds the way to the exit too crowded to move through quickly. If he wants to catch the girls, he's going to need to take another path.

Luckily, there's one right behind him. He turns right back around, jumps onto the stage, and makes a beeline for the stage wings. He does feel bad about leaving Gentaro behind like that, but that feeling dissipates a moment later when he finds the novelist has caught up to him. They run into the backstage area, but Dice's quarry is nowhere to be found. The sound of footsteps down the hall reaches his ears, and he runs after them, again with Gentaro in tow. Once again, they find nothing but the sound of more footsteps, and they take off after the noise.

The pattern repeats until, without warning, Dice and Gentaro find themselves outside the live house just in time to watch the bus with Natsuha's unit on it disappear around the street corner. There, they pause to catch their breath, the chilly night air stinging their throats with each inhalation. The sheer closeness of it all infuriates Dice, enough so that it makes him want to scream, and he's about to do just that when someone cuts him off.

"There you are!" It's Mitsumine, coming through the very door he and Gentaro had just run through themselves. "Dead or Alive—and Yumeno Gentaro too! Mitsumine's kind of surprised to see you both here—she didn't think you were _that_ fond of Afterschool Climax Girls."

It's that name again. Dice snorts and, to his surprise, so does Gentaro. He's doing his best to keep a straight face, but Dice can tell his partner is struggling to hold back a laugh, and the pained look on the novelist's face leaves him in no doubt that Mitsumine can tell too. Seeing that both pairs of eyes are on him, Gentaro responds with the closest thing to a straight face he can muster.

"That… That idol group doth have quite the moniker… Alas, thy guess is false. I am merely here at Dice's behest; performances such as these do not interest me much. Tho' now I _am_ curious: Who, pray tell, art thou?"

"Mitsumine is Mitsumine! But something tells her that's not the answer you're looking for. Mitsumine is part of an idol unit signed to 283 Production. Which, by the way, is the same agency Nacchan and her friends are signed to! You really should visit, Kogatan and Megurun are huge fans of you guys… As is Mitsumine, of course, but that was obvious."

Dice opens his mouth to speak, but Gentaro anticipates his question and heads him off. Probably for the better anyway, considering the emotional outburst he was going to have. "That is indeed our intention. Prithee tell us: Wherever is this… 283 Production?"

* * *

They're both sixteen, and they both have expectations of stoicism placed upon them—Natsuha as a corporate heiress, and Dice as a boy. Those expectations are out in full force tonight, at the farewell dinner Dice's family is holding before they move out, and it's heavily weighing on them. They're used enough to it to keep up the facade, but know full well that if they don't find reprieve soon, it's not going to be pretty.

Luckily for them, the party has hit a lull, and Dice has taken the initiative to invite Natsuha upstairs for a round of video games. Now they're in his room, playing together. Or, at least, _trying_ to play together. They're only really going through the motions, barely paying attention to the screen; they're far more focused on themselves, trying their hardest not to cry. Not to show strength or anything, but rather the opposite: Each of them wants to be a stable shoulder for the other to cry on when it inevitably happens. After the tenth draw, Natsuha sets down her controller. "...Hey, aniki?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll miss ya." Her accent's slipping again, and her voice is shaking, but that's to be expected given the circumstances. "Promise… Promise me you're gonna write, at least?"

He laughs, but it's clearly forced. "Yeah, ya don't gotta worry about a thing! I'll write daily! Hell, hourly even!" She smiles, and he continues in a lower voice: "No, but really. I'll do everything I can to keep us in touch, and, well—I know I don't need to ask, but still—you gotta promise to do the same, baby sis."

"What in the world are you saying? Of course I'll stay in touch!" Her attempt at mock indignation is just as forced as Dice's laugh, and falls flat immediately. She's very clearly on the verge of breaking, so Dice decides he's going to give her this one. He pulls her into a tight hug, and just lets himself cry. As he'd expected, she does the same, and they just hold each other and cry, thankful for the respite the bedroom affords them from others' judgement for it.

* * *

It's the day after the live, and Natsuha is absolutely trashed. She's finally done for the day, and there's nothing she'd like more than to go home. When she returns to the 283 office to pick up her things, however, she immediately notices something odd: There's a small crowd that's formed around the couch. The sight would've piqued her interest any day, but she can distinctly make out the words 'Shibuya Division' within her friends' chaotic muttering, and now she's _really_ curious. She (gently) pushes past Mamimi and Meguru, and just barely stops herself from making an entirely undignified noise once she's got a clear line of sight.

There, lying on the couch and evidently asleep, is Fling Posse's Dead or Alive in the flesh. She's not sure what he's doing here, but that doesn't stop the excitement building up in her. The funny thing is, she's not even interested in the man himself. She knows _Kogane_ is, though, and she'd very much like to get him to sign something for her… But that can wait. She's got to take her belongings and track down the producer, make sure she knows what's coming tomorrow.

She starts to turn around, and only then does she realize that he looks suspiciously like the man she saw at the station yesterday. This revelation keeps her looking at him just long enough for her to notice his eye sliding open, and the crowd around her takes a step back.

"A-Ah! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I was just..." She trails off, trying to figure out what to say next, but her train of thought stops dead in its tracks when Dead or Alive sits up and gives her a little wave, and then completely derailed when he greets her.

"'S been a while, Baby Sis."

The silence that follows is deafening. Natsuha doesn't know what she wants to say, but she's totally certain what she wants to do. She takes a deep breath, then steps up to Dice, closes her eyes...

...and slaps him across the face as hard as she can. She can't see the looks on the other girls' faces, but she's guessing they look utterly scandalized. Dice, on the other hand, says nothing. In fact, when she opens her eyes, she sees him grinning at her, and she's sure she's doing the same, judging by his reply.

"Yeah, it's good to see you too. How've ya been?"

"You promised me you'd write, aniki!" She knows it's not an answer to his question, but she's been sitting on it for so long. "Instead, I get nothing for four years, and then all of a sudden you show up here like nothing's happened?!" Yet, despite her indignation, she hugs Dice anyway.

"I did! Daily, too! Problem is, I didn't get any response, so I figured you were super busy and decided not to bother ya." He returns the hug, patting her on the back. "But considerin' how you're reacting, I'm guessing you never got my letters in the first place."

"Your… Your _letters?_ " Oh. She sees what's happening here. "Dice, you weren't… You wouldn't happen to have been sending me letters via _snail mail_ , would you?"

"Well..." He lets out a nervous laugh, but that soon turns into a full-blown guffaw. He doesn't finish the sentence, but she understands what he means anyway, and starts laughing too. She's sure her colleagues are confused, but she doesn't care; she can explain everything to them later.

Dice is the first to break the hug, rising to his feet as he does. "Anyway, 's been good, but..." He gestures to the crowd, which has now started to disperse. "It looks like you're all in the middle of somethin', so I won't bother ya any longer."

"No, I'm not lettin' ya get away!" She cries out before she can stop herself, reverting to her native Nagoya-ben for the first time in years. Her cheeks flush, and she takes a moment to collect herself before continuing in the Tokyo-ben she's gotten used to. "Sorry, I mean to say—I've already finished all my work for the day, so if you want to stick around, feel free to. I'll just pick up my things and then we'll catch up, okay?"

"Yeah, sure thing. Take your time; I've got more of it than I know what to do with. I'll be up on the roof when you're done; wanna talk somewhere more private."

**Author's Note:**

> notes at both the start and end of the chapter feels a bit egregious to me, but i want to explain that if the ending seems a bit abrupt, it's because it is: this was initially one big one-shot, but i split it into two so i'd be able to have my cake and eat it too, putting something out while still continuing to work on it. chapter 2'll be out when it's ready.


End file.
